A police commander who began his career in south Phoenix is returning to lead the South Mountain Precinct.

Cmdr. Chris Crockett, a 23-year veteran of the department, began his new assignment Oct. 11.

Phoenix Public Safety Manager Jack Harris said the change in leadership was in the works prior to a police-officer shooting of an unarmed man in south Phoenix on Oct. 5.

“There has been criticism of how we react with the community,” said Harris. “There is a perception that we can do things better. (The shooting incident) may have accelerated the implementation, but it wasn’t the motivating factor.”

Currently the Department of Homeland Security can delegate immigration enforcement activities to local law enforcement departments. The department’s own audits have cited many failures with these programs, including the ability to protect from human rights abuses.

The local enforcement of national immigration policies only serves to tear families apart and contribute to racial profiling, vigilantism, and a fear of law enforcement that threatens the safety of all our communities.

I just sent a letter to President Obama urging him to put an end to these programs. Can you join me and send a letter too? Just click on the picture to send your letter:

Please note that because the situation in Arizona is fluid, plans may shift on short notice. Even if SB 1070 does not go into effect, we will be taking action, in solidarity with local groups such as Puente, to call for immigration reform. Our goal on the ground will be rapid response, plugging into the actions coordinated by our local partners, and supporting their work with actions of our own. Please check back frequently for updates as events unfold:

Romley responded Wednesday by slamming Thomas’ administration for not requiring the sheriff to provide enough evidence to go to trial, instead hoping that those charged would just plead guilty.

His ethical obligation as a prosecutor requires that, he said.

“With a case such as that, to prove that case in trial you have to have certified copies from (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) that these people were here illegally,” Romley said. “The county attorney’s office never required that (of the sheriff’s office) in the past. Never required it of them. It was sloppy work, it was a lazy person’s work.”

Thomas said Romley was abandoning a proven method of prosecuting illegal immigrants and making sure they don’t come back once they’re deported.

“We have won, at great costs, the ability to prosecute these people and make sure they have a felony conviction,” Thomas said. “And we have lost that.”

On enforcing Senate Bill 1070, Romley said he would work with county attorneys in the state’s 14 other counties to create a standard procedure for prosecutions under the law.

He said one of the elements he will push is for a full police report, to be required for each arrest, so that the reasons for the original stop are apparent.

On misdemeanors, often a police officer just writes a citation similar to a traffic ticket.

“It will eliminate hopefully some level of allegations of racial profiling,” Romley said. “More is better in this case.”

Clarence Harrington III and Anthony Harrington, 53-year-old brothers who are renovating a south Phoenix house, are split.

“We all want a place where we can feel at home,” said Clarence, who wants more uniformed officers on the street to deal with open drug sales and other problems. He added, “As a community, we need to address and deal with problems that perpetuate the problem, like substance abuse . . . and job training.”

But ongoing police crackdowns, Anthony said, mean that regular people are constantly pulled over or questioned by police when they aren’t doing anything wrong.

“The police know all the drug dealers, they know all of the hot spots,” said Anthony, during a break from yard work. “But instead, they make it hard on everyone. They could do it in a different way.”

For Jackson, the mistrust now means she’d rather avoid police altogether.